A Los Angeles-based nonprofit opened an early childhood center specifically for children whose families are seeking asylum in the United States. This center is one of the only places available where migrant children can play and learn for free.

If you’ve seen someone zoom by on an electric scooter in any of the American cities where they’re taking over the streets and sidewalks and thought, “Those things are going to kill someone,” you’re not alone.

In fact, a local leading medical authority who has seen a rash of injuries caused by the hottest transportation trend in the country agrees with you.

“It’s just a matter of time before someone is killed. I’m absolutely certain of it.”

Michael Sise, chief of medical staff at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, to The Washington Post.

The Post explored whether emergency room trips are increasing as the use of shared electric scooters rises and learned about dozens of serious injuries from doctors in seven cities, ranging from broken noses to blunt head trauma.

ABC News reported that a 24-year-old man in Dallas died just last weekend after he was “injured while riding a scooter.” In August, a 21-year-old woman on a scooter died after she was struck by a car driven by someone who police said may have been under the influence of alcohol in downtown Cleveland.

So far, anecdotes are the best way to track the rise in minor and major injuries among scooter users. Despite the explosive growth in dockless bikes and scooters, there is not yet a great database collecting information on the injuries that occur while using them. Researchers at UC San Francisco recently said they’ve started tracking injury data in that city.

Here in San Diego, a June electric scooter crash in Mission Beach left an 11-year-old girl with a ruptured spleen, abdominal bleeding and a head injury, according to her father, and left the girl’s mother with a skull fractured in multiple places.

In California, it’s illegal to ride electric scooters on sidewalks, but the rule is often ignored or unknown by riders. State law also requires that scooter riders wear helmets, but it’s common to see riders not wearing helmets.

That last part may change. A bill approved by the state Legislature may begin a new era of helmet-less riding. If Gov. Jerry Brown approves Assembly Bill 2989 this month, only riders under the age of 18 would have to wear helmets while riding a motorized scooter.

“This bill gives adults the freedom to choose whether or not to wear a helmet when riding a motorized scooter,” an Assembly analysis of the bill explains.

That analysis also cites a study of 6,000 bike-related injuries in the U.S. that found that riders wearing helmets had a 52 percent lower risk of brain injury and a 44 percent lower risk of death compared to riders without helmets.

Some of the scooter companies in use across the country provide free helmets to customers who request one.

"Bird strongly encourages all riders to wear helmets and ride safely," said David Estrada, the company’s chief legal officer. "This is why we provide helmet instructions on our vehicles and in-app — and why Bird has given away more than 40,000 free helmets to riders so far this year."

But are the San Diego tourists or locals zooming around town without helmets aware of that option? Myabe not. Questions and thoughts about scooter safety across the U.S. are common on social media.

Do you see the scooters as being dangerous? Are you enjoying riding them safely in San Diego?